Fighters, Heaven, and Earth
by Zero-Sennin
Summary: Souichirou Nagi and his longtime girlfriend, Aya Natsume, have long graduated Toudou Academy. Now, he is a janitor at Nanyou Academy, while she is a teacher at Seitou Academy. Though they escaped one wheel of fate, another catches up with them, ensnaring them in Kantou's very own re-enactment of the Three Kingdoms era. One-shot, AU.


Souichirou Nagi was standing in front of a dragon in human skin.

There was no other way to explain the strawberry-blond girl named Hakufu Sonsaku that was currently staring into his face with yellow, catlike eyes. Her Nanyou Academy uniform—a yellow vest with a white shirt, red bow-tied ribbon, and red, checkered skirt—was torn up, leaving ragged bits of cloth covering part of her breasts, her underwear, and not much else. A green magatama-shaped earring hung from her left earlobe, gleaming in the morning light streaming in through the windows. The light also illuminated the massive amounts of damage the hallway had taken in about a three-foot length, with miniature craters and spiderweb cracks all over the walls, floor, and ceiling.

If Souichirou wasn't twenty-five years old and almost married, he might have found Hakufu's current state of dress kind of distracting, but at the moment the only thing on his mind was that whatever happened here had screwed up the hallway he'd worked so hard to clean up earlier that day.

With a sigh, Souichirou straightened his blue overalls and adjusted his blue cap, which had the kanji for "Nanyou Academy Janitorial Department" written on the front. "All right, kid. You gonna stand here and keep trying to make me tight in the pants, or are you going to attack me?"

Hakufu let her tongue loll out of her mouth and panted. She was grinning wildly, and her body was trembling. The hallway shook and rumbled with force of her aura, and she crouched down, legs tensed and ready to spring. A slow laugh bubbled out of her mouth, and she clenched her hands into claws. Souichirou knew that at any moment, she'd spring and attack him.

Behind Hakufu, safely out of her arm's reach, two other Nanyou students were watching the entire scene. One was the blue-haired Shimei Ryomou, who'd been gravely injured by the dragon girl and was lying on the ground. Her uniform was in tatters, just like Hakufu's, and her right eye was narrowed in anger and frustration; her left eye, hidden behind a medical eyepatch, probably did the same. The other student was tan, blonde Genpou Saji, who dangled a cigarette out of his mouth with a sly smile. Unlike both Hakufu and Ryomou, his own uniform was pretty much spotless.

"Heh. So this is the power of Hakufu Sonsaku, eh?" Saji said, looking over at Ryomou with half-opened eyes. "Man, Mou-chan. No wonder you got your face kicked in. Something like this would be even hard for you to defeat."

"What the hell is this?" Ryomou replied. The beauty mark below the left side of her mouth twitched in concert with her lips. "This oppressive force...is this really what the Little Conqueror is?" She focused her angry glare on Souichirou next. "Run, you stupid janitor! Do you want to die?"

Hakufu took two more steps toward Souichirou, and he responded by taking one. Then, without much hesitation, he punched Hakufu in the stomach before she could even attack him. She flinched, then roared, and grabbed onto Souichirou's extended left arm, squeezing it hard enough to crack bone and bruise flesh. Despite that, Souichirou didn't flinch, and he used his other hand to chop Hakufu's neck. Her eyes went back to their normal greenish-blue, but were clearly unfocused and hazy. She instantly let go of him, and moments later literally sprawled out on the floor, completely unconscious.

Souichirou looked at the angry red marks on his left forearm, then put his left hand in his pocket. He squatted next to Hakufu and slipped his right hand under her stomach, then adjusted her until she was slung over his shoulder like a sack of rice and stood up.

"If I wasn't here, you would have died just now," Souichirou said, turning to face Ryomou and Saji with a bored frown. "Now after I go drop this idiot off at the infirmary, I'm coming back up here to finish cleaning the bathroom. You two had better be gone by then or I'm going to use your faces as my mops. Got it?"

Saji arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yes, sir."

Souichirou turned on his heel and headed for the staircase down the hall without a reply. Ryomou tried to get to her feet, maybe even to pursue him, but stopped midway, and started to fall forward. Saji caught her before she could hit the ground, and scooped her up in his arms. "Now, now, Mou-chan. I think it's a pretty good opportunity to get while the getting is good. I don't think that man was fooling around when he said he wanted us gone. And after what Sonsaku just did to you, you need to go to the hospital."

Ryomou growled. She had defeated Hakufu with ease before the so-called "Little Conqueror" had fallen into that odd berserker state, at which point Hakufu had slammed her into the ground with a back suplex and savaged her with several wild punches and kicks. Saji had been about to interfere when Souichirou had emerged from the bathrooms behind Hakufu, mop and bucket in hand. The moment he'd seen what was going on, Souichirou had put his supplies down and said to Saji, _"Hey, pretty boy. Care to explain why there's a cat fight going on in the hallway I just cleaned two hours ago?"_

That was when the events of the past two minutes or so had unfolded.

"No. I won't admit defeat that easily. Not to Sonsaku, and not to that damned fake janitor!" she shouted. "Put me down this instant, Saji!"

Though she said this, she already knew she was posturing. She truly wanted to go after Hakufu and Souichirou, but her body was screaming in pain. There was no way she was physically capable enough to push herself to chase after them after Hakufu had cracked a good number of her bones and done God knows what else.

Saji shook his head as he walked back to the center of the hallway. There was a flight of stairs there that would take them down to the first floor without letting them run into Souichirou. "Fake?" he asked. "I've seen him around for most of the day today, talking to some of the teachers. He's legit."

"He's only a janitor, but he was able to subdue...that thing with two blows," Ryomou replied, refusing to lower her voice. "Even though it nearly broke his arm, he just walked off like it didn't mean anything! He has to be a Fighter undercover from some other school, or some hired assassin, or something. There's no way an ordinary person could do any of that!"

Saji's cigarette bounced in time with his steps as they descended the staircase. "Then he's clearly not an ordinary person. Doesn't mean he's a Fighter in disguise. Your paranoia will ruin you, Mou-chan."

While he was saying this, though, his mind was racing. Ryomou was right. No ordinary person could face down an out-of-control dragon like the one that resided in Hakufu Sonsaku so calmly, let alone defeat it with only two clean strikes. That janitor may not have been a student, but Saji was convinced that there had to be a way to get him on their side—or at least to get him not to work against them. If they didn't find a way to control him, then there was no telling what could go wrong with Saji's plans if the janitor chose to interfere the way he had today.

_One thing at a time, _Saji thought, his grin turning into a nasty smirk. _One thing at a time._

* * *

Souichirou pushed open the door to the infirmary with a slight grimace, staring at the gruesomely growing red spreading down his left arm. He'd kept his cool, but Hakufu had one hell of a grip when she was angry, and even with the amount of pain he'd put his own body through over the years, damage like that was nothing to scoff at. She hadn't had a chance to grab him long, though, so some ice would fix it up fine.

The nurse, a young-looking brunette in a standard white nurse's outfit, immediately turned to face him from where she sat behind the desk to the left of the door, and stared wide-eyed at both Souichirou's injury and the fact that a barely-decent Hakufu was slumped over his right shoulder. "Nagi-san! Your arm! What happened?"

"Not much, Sagimoto. Got caught up in a little squabble between brats," Souichirou said. "This kid got messed up way worse than me, though. Can you put her on a bed first and make sure she's all right before you deal with me?"

As he said that, two young men emerged from the other room where the beds were. One was a tall, tan fellow with black spiked hair and a muscled build named Gakushuu. He wore a white headband, and bandages decorated his face; a silver-colored magatama earring hung from his left ear. The other, Koukin Shuuyu, was a small, slim young man that was about Souichirou's height, with dark hair, brown eyes, and a red magatama earring. He, too, was covered in bandages, but unlike Gakushuu's bandages, they seemed much fresher, and his movements were much stiffer as well.

Sagimoto turned to them with a clear pout on her face, though her attention was clearly focused on the shorter of the two. "Shuuyu-kun! Why are you up? You lie back down this instant."

Koukin shook his head, but before he could explain himself, he saw Hakufu and immediately got up into Souichirou's face, staring angrily into the janitor's eyes. "What did you do to Hakufu!?"

"Stopped her from killing a one-eyed girl and some blond pretty boy with her bare hands," Souichirou replied evenly. "She screwed up my arm in the process, but I figured that I could deal with it as long as I got her here afterward." He shook his head, and his brown eyes burned with determination as he returned Koukin's stare. "Now, you wanna keep playing 'who's the tougher guy', you can keep staring all you want. You wanna let Sagimoto take care of Hakufu here, you'll shut up and move out of my way before I punch you out of it."

Put simply, Souichirou's tone brooked no argument, and after a moment, Koukin stepped aside, though he didn't let his eyes off of Souichirou for even a moment. With the way cleared, Souichirou went into the room, pulled Hakufu off of his shoulder (wincing at the slight strain on his injured arm) and put her on a bed. He then went back out to the main office, sat in a chair next to the door of that room, and closed his eyes.

Sagimoto stood up from her chair and went into the room, followed by Koukin and Gakushuu; however, when she entered, she quickly turned around and glared at both boys. "Stay outside, you two. She's half-naked and in no decent state to be gawked at!"

Koukin immediately flushed bright red, and though Gakushuu did not, he nodded nevertheless and both young men stepped back and turned away. Sagimoto closed the door not long afterward, and it was Gakushuu's measured baritone that spoke to Souichirou afterward. "You should probably forget about everything you saw today. It didn't concern you."

"I _should _probably get this arm taken care of by Sagimoto, then finish cleaning so I can actually go the hell home later today and sleep this off," Souichirou replied, not moving in the slightest. "And it damn well does concern me, because now I'll have to go back and clean that hallway again. What little of it I can, anyway. It looks like a god damn war zone up there." He sighed. "Is this some kind of a gang war? Hazing ritual? Tell me now so I know how to expect how long it's going to go on, and whether or not I need to go kick around a few people to make it stop."

"It is nothing like a gang war," Gakushuu retorted shortly. "Suffice it to say that you wouldn't understand. All I will tell you is that it isn't your concern. Just worry about your job and don't interfere."

Souichirou cracked open one eye, and it seemed to glow in the shadow from his hat as he glared at Gakushuu. "Say that one more time. Please. I have my right arm free now, so I can actually break that fat nose of yours without having Sagimoto get pissed at me for screwing up my left arm a little bit more."

Gakushuu tensed, but Koukin put a hand up and shook his head. "This is a little forward of me, Gakushuu-senpai, but I think that's enough. I don't think there's any harm in telling him about what's going on."

"Then do so yourself, Shuuyu. I'm going to go. Just remember that I and the rest of the Four Devas won't forget what's happened. We may cross paths as enemies in the future."

With that, Gakushuu exited the clinic. Koukin grabbed a nearby rolling chair with a square back and placed it in front of Souichirou, sitting down with a slight wince. Souichirou's expression relaxed from a threatening scowl to a bored one. "All right. Start talking, kid."

"My name is Koukin Shuuyu," Koukin replied, letting a slight edge into his voice. "And the girl you brought here is named Hakufu Sonsaku. She's my cousin, and just transferred into Nanyou." He fidgeted slightly, then continued, his voice lower. "Have you ever heard of _The Romance of the Three Kingdoms_?"

Souichirou used his right hand to tweak his cap a little bit. "Yeah. That Chinese story about the three conquerors in China, or whatever, right? What of it?"

Koukin gestured to his bead. "These magatama mark those that carry a special destiny related to those three kingdoms. Myself, Hakufu, Gakushuu-senpai...and the two people you met, Shimei Ryomou and Genpou Saji...to put it simply, we're like the reincarnations of warriors from that era of the three kingdoms. The magatama carry the souls of our namesakes—the people whose spirits we've inherited." He let out a quiet sigh. "People like us are called Fighters, and seven schools within this district—Nanyou, Seitou, Kyoshou, Rakuyo, Yoshuu, Youshu, and Ryoshu—are all competing to conquer Kantou."

Souichirou slowly sat up in his seat, opening both eyes as he looked Koukin straight in the face once more. "So what are you saying, then? This fighting going on is just some playing out of that old story in the modern day?"

"Something like that," Koukin said. "You see, yesterday, Hakufu challenged thirty of the Fighters here as a 'greeting' of sorts. Gakushuu-senpai was number thirty, and he beat her pretty easily. However, Gakushuu-senpai is one of the Four Devas of Nanyou—a group of Fighters that act as enforcers for the school's general, Kourou Enjutsu. Ryomou-san and Saji-senpai are also Devas, so because of what Hakufu did, they called for an execution on both me and Hakufu. I was trying to fight my way to where Hakufu was, but Saji-senpai beat me pretty easily."

"So what I'm hearing is that I need to go beat the living crap out of this so-called general so that you kids will quit screwing up the damn hallways and stay in class," Souichirou replied. "Well, I still look like a student when I dress the right way, so I could probably snag one of these stupid uniforms..."

Inadvertently, Koukin raised his voice. "That's not necessary!" Souichirou blinked, taken aback by how loudly the boy had spoken, and Koukin looked away, clearing his throat self-consciously before continuing. "You have to understand something...sir. These battles...they don't concern people that aren't Fighters. I don't mean that to be rude like Gakushuu-senpai was. I'm only stating the truth. Our concerns—our destinies—are our burden to bear. Normal people don't need to take any part in them."

Souichirou gave Koukin a flat look for a few moments, then shook his head and pulled off his hat, exposing his short, wildly-cut blonde hair and dark brown forked eyebrows. "It doesn't work that way, Shuuyu," he replied. "Even if it's a problem between Nanyou and these other six schools you're talking about, ultimately everyone that lives in Kantou is going to be affected by what you idiots do to each other."

His perpetual frown flipped from aggressive to pensive as he dredged up decade-old memories in his mind of someone else that had run wild back in the day.

Himself.

"That girl, Hakufu, has a dangerous power inside of her. If she'd grabbed my arm for any longer than she had, she probably would have gotten a few bones, and I know for a fact that she beat the horseshit out of that girl, Shimei—Ryomou, whatever." Souichirou's eyebrows tightened. "What if someone with a dragon like hers loses control of it and starts hurting bystanders? Are you going to have the balls to blame destiny and say that it's not regular people's business after that?"

Koukin frowned, feeling a cold pit in the bottom of his stomach. "A dragon?"

Souichirou nodded. "Yeah. Eyes changed shape, changed color. Veins were standing out all over her body. She looked like she was getting off on completely destroying everything in her way." He sighed. "It was kind of nostalgic, actually. It's been years since I saw or felt something like that. It's not quite the same sensation, but it's close enough." He leaned back in the chair again and tilted his head upward. "If you want her to stay the way she is, you'd better find a way to get that thing under her control—or sealed."

The door to the bed room opened with a loud click, and Sagimoto walked out, holding a roll of medical tape and an ice pack. "Dispensing life advice again, Nagi-san?" Sagimoto said. "You have a talent for that. How did you wind up as a janitor at a place like this and not a school counselor?"

"Poverty's a hell of a thing, Sagimoto. Gets in the way of things like going to college for a degree," Souichirou said. He looked at the supplies in her hand, and stood up. "Ice me up so I can get back to work."

Sagimoto sighed and shook her head with a tired smile as he extended his arm toward her. "You never change, Nagi-san." As she unrolled the medical bandages, she looked over at Koukin. "Come back in an hour for your friend, Shuuyu-kun. She should be awake by then."

Koukin nodded, then looked back at Souichirou. "Er. Nagi-san, was it? This dragon you were talking about...do you think you might be able to tell me how to...?"

Souichirou winced slightly as Sagimoto tightened the bandage around the icepack and his arm. "I can't promise it's exactly the same kind of dragon that I know of. It just felt like one. Meet me with her tomorrow and we'll discuss the terms of my contract."

"Contract?" Koukin replied, blinking owlishly. "For what?"

Sagimoto stepped back, and Souichirou waggled his arm about a little bit before nodding at her, seemingly satisfied. He then looked at Koukin and smiled tightly. "You're hiring an exorcist. We work based on commission. And this might be a long term job, so you're going to need me for more than a day or two. If that's the case, then you're going to pay me for every single minute." Before Koukin could reply to that, Souichirou walked out of the clinic without looking back, speaking one last time. "Meet me with her tomorrow, or I won't help you. End of story."

Koukin continued to stare at Souichirou's back, but it wasn't until he was completely out of the room that Koukin finally spoke. "Who _is _that guy?"

"Nagi-san is a janitor that got hired here before summer break," Sagimoto said. "He...helped me out of a tight situation once, so we're kind of acquaintances." She smiled. "Trust me. He's a reliable man. If you can meet his price, then he'll definitely help you with whatever you need."

Koukin scratched his chin and hummed to himself, but said nothing else.

* * *

Unlike Nanyou Academy, Seitou Girls' Academy was relatively peaceful that morning—not for lack of Fighters, but for lack of a reason to fight. The halls were empty, as every student was in a classroom, doing what they were supposed to be doing as opposed to anything else.

While Souichirou was subduing the berserk Hakufu, Aya Natsume was in the middle of one of her three history classes for the day, teaching the third-year students. She'd started her job at around the time Souichirou had started his, but she was already well-known around the campus as a young but tough teacher that was easy to approach and talk to. Today, she was dressed a sharp looking blue suit and brown boots, with her long brown hair pinned up, creating a neat bun that fanned upward on her head. She stood at the right side of the chalkboard, close to the window that looked out to the empty Seitou courtyard two floors down.

Despite the outward peacefulness of the campus, though, Aya could feel that things were not quite right. Her eyes would occasionally stray away from both the blackboard and her class, seemingly staring out into nowhere, before she picked up her train of thought again.

The reason for this was simple enough, but said reason frightened Aya terribly.

She was sensing something strange in the general vicinity of the area she kept looking at. Though the sensation was faint because she couldn't fully concentrate on it, she knew that the thing she was feeling was the ki of someone that had lost control of their dragon. It was nothing like what Souichirou had been during that final fight ten years ago, but still formidable, and so noxiously corrupted that what little she could sense of it made her feel ill. If she concentrated, Aya could also sense a similar presence in the vague direction of Nanyou. Without her Dragon's Eye active, she couldn't be absolutely positive that Souichirou wasn't involved in whatever was going on over there; she knew for a fact that she could feel him near the presence, but she wasn't positive about it. It bothered her immensely that she couldn't figure out what this nasty-feeling ki really was, but she couldn't find out now.

_I can't believe that after ten years you're still exactly the same, Souichirou-sama, _she thought, letting out a small students in the class seemed bewildered by her blank expression, but no one said anything. _Always getting into trouble. Aren't you an adult now?_

"Natsume-sensei. You lost track of the lesson again."

The smooth, soft, and low voice from the second row caused Aya to jump slightly and shake her head for a moment. The student that had spoken was Unchou Kan'u, a tan-skinned girl with long black hair and sea-blue eyes, one of which was hidden behind a curtain of bangs. She had a bit of a reputation as the school idol, and Aya personally liked her work ethic and attention to detail. Like all the other students, Kan'u wore the standard Seitou sailor uniform, complete with yellow scarf, blue skirt, large legwarmer socks, and brown flats. However, she also had on a pair of red gloves, and a long staff was laid out on the ground next to her chair, and its head covered by a green cloth. A silver magatama earring dangled from her left earlobe.

"O-oh! Thank you, Kan'u-san," Aya said, smiling brightly. "I'm sorry about that, I thought I heard something. Now, where were we...? Right, Nobunaga..."

As Aya picked up the lesson where she'd left off, Kan'u leaned back in her chair and studied Aya closely. Despite clear efforts to indicate otherwise, the teacher was still discomfited by something, and it was evident in the way that her body moved as she gestured to the board.

After a while, Kan'u looked over to the desk at her right, where a girl with long silver hair faced forward, keeping her teal-colored eyes completely shut. She wore a magatama earring like Kan'u's, down to the color, but wore a different uniform than the other Seitou students: a tan vest with a white undershirt and a red bow at the neck, a dark brown skirt, and white gloves. A sheathed sword lay beneath her desk, at her feet.

This girl was Shiryuu Chou'un, one of Kan'u's acquaintances. She was also a fellow caretaker of Seitou's future leader, Gentoku Ryuubi, and probably the only fighter in Seitou Academy that was an even match for Kan'u.

"She knows something is going on," Kan'u said under her breath, turning forward once again. When she whispered like this, it was nearly impossible for anyone else to hear, but Chou'un was not "anyone else" by any stretch of the words. "She's been looking in Gentoku's direction every time the dragon's ki has spiked."

Chou'un let her chin dip down in a slight nod. "Then," she said, "shall we discuss it with her after class?"

Kan'u's eye narrowed. "We shall."

* * *

The rest of the class passed without incident, and after she cleaned the chalkboard off and gathered her papers into a small suitcase, Aya stepped outside with her suitcase in hand. She rubbed her forehead and sighed, then looked over to the source of the foul ki, setting her face into a frown as she weighed her options. Her next class wasn't for a while a while yet, so it was likely that she could slip away long enough to use her Dragon's Eye and figure out what was going on. Thankfully, years of practice with the Eye made it possible for her to use it at almost full power without having to strip out of her clothes to concentrate. However, there was no doubt in her mind that if she engaged the Eye for too long, she would have to fight to keep her own dragon from being tainted and corrupted by the ki she'd been sensing.

"And here I thought Seitou would be a lot quieter than Nanyou, going by all those weird gang war rumors," Aya said, walking toward the stairs. She would need the utmost privacy for this, so the staff break room's bathroom would be ideal. "A foul ki like that has no place on a campus like this...not to mention what I felt coming from Nanyou's direction earlier." Her voice dropped slightly in volume, and her cheeks tinted red. "I really hope Souichirou-sama is all right..."

"So you could indeed feel it, Sensei," said Kan'u's voice from behind. "I had a suspicion that you were hiding something."

Aya jumped in place, then turned and stared at Kan'u, who was leaning against a nearby wall with her polearm at her side. Her visible eye was closed, and the hint of a smile played across her lips, but it was less friendly and more like a cat ready to pounce.

"What are you talking about, Kan'u-san?" Aya replied, putting on her 'cheerful everyday teacher' face. Something about how the younger girl was behaving made Aya extremely uneasy, but she wasn't about to let it show. "If you had a question about today's lecture, I'd be more than happy to help you if you came to me after school."

Kan'u shook her head. "Sensei, please don't try to change the subject. You may not have realized it, but you were already sticking out like a sore thumb here. Your ki is unusually large for someone that isn't a Fighter, and you move like a Fighter as well—you've seen combat before. On top of that, you kept getting distracted by the pulses of energy coming from the campus today." She opened her eye, and tilted her head slightly, giving a slightly cold edge to her smile. "So why exactly is it that you could sense that tainted dragon?"

At first, Kan'u's use of the word "Fighter" just confused Aya more. However, the moment Kan'u mentioned the "tainted dragon", Aya completely changed her attitude, such that Kan'u was internally surprised by how quickly Aya's expression went from shocked and nervous to firm and serious. "So it is a dragon. Someone with such a tainted dragon is here?" Her voice did not rise, but sharpened in tone and severity. "This is a danger to everyone on this campus!"

Kan'u was too taken aback by Aya's forcefulness, even if she didn't show it, so Chou'un stepped out from behind Kan'u, nodding as she turned toward Aya. "We're aware of that, Natsume-sensei," Chou'un said. "For the moment, that person has been locked away for her own safety and the safety of everyone else around her. All we really wish to know is how you can sense her dragon in the first place."

Aya looked to the sword Chou'un was holding in her hand with a troubled frown, then back at the two girls' faces. As if sensing Aya's discomfort, Chou'un smiled and stepped back a little bit. "We don't mean to frighten you, Natsume-sensei. We just want some answers."

_I take it back, Souichirou-sama, _Aya thought. _Apparently you and I both have a talent for getting into trouble. _

"Let's say that I've had experiences with dragons in the past," Aya replied shortly. She tightened her grip on her suitcase slightly, and turned her body to narrow her profile. "And I've never heard of anything like a 'Fighter' before now, so whoever or whatever they are, I'm not one of them. So what is it that you want from me?"

Kan'u cast an appraising eye over Aya's body and face. She wasn't lying about anything she'd just said, and despite a clearly growing tension in her posture, she was giving no indication that she was feeling pressed to attack them, or to run. "As Chou'un said, Natsume-sensei, we only want answers," Kan'u said. "I believe you when you say you don't know what a Fighter is, but you also said that you've had experiences with them before. The fact is that only Fighters should be capable of possessing dragons in the first place." Though she spoke calmly, Kan'u's eye narrowed. "Seitou is in a very sensitive position right now because of this issue with the dragon we're talking about, and we absolutely cannot afford to deal with any unknown elements. Someone that can sense a dragon despite not being a Fighter is one such element."

Aya sighed, and shook her head. She didn't have time for a full explanation, but clearly, there was no point in trying to duck the question any more. "To put it simply, I have an ability known as the Dragon's Eye. It gives me...a special kind of sight. It's not active right now, but I can still sense some things even when I'm not using it." She shifted again, realizing that she'd instinctively taken a ready stance as if she were about to fight—and that was the last thing she wanted to do in this kind of tense atmosphere. "To answer your question about dragons, I think it's simplest to say this: they've been around for longer than you think. In fact, almost everyone has the potential to awaken one within them, if they have the skill and the will. It's all a matter of how well one is trained and whether or not they find a way to open their Dragon Gate."

For the first time in the entire conversation, Kan'u allowed a perplexed expression to show on her face. This ran entirely counter to what she understood about what a dragon was. By Kan'u's understanding, a dragon was simply the full and ultimate manifestation of the spirit within a Fighter's magatama—all the ambition, power, and destructive spirit that overrode the conscious mind of the Fighter that possessed it. Only those with the destiny to conquer could possess one, which included Moutoku Sousou of Kyoshou Academy...and Gentoku Ryuubi of Seitou Academy.

Just thinking about Ryuubi's current position at the moment in that dark, dank cell made Kan'u's heart hurt, but she put aside the image of a raving mad Ryuubi as quickly as she could. Now wasn't the time to reflect on what her friend was going through.

Before Kan'u could continue interrogating Aya, though, the ringing of a phone interrupted her. After a moment, Aya realized that it was her phone, and the specific ringtone meant it could only be one person. She pulled a cellphone out of the breast pocket of her suit and answered it without looking at the caller id. "Yes, hello?"

"_Aya, it's me," _Souichirou said. _"Ran into a girl with a dragon today at Nanyou, but it didn't feel like a Red Feather or a gate. I talked to her cousin and he might be willing to negotiate a contract for my assistance."_

"I'm sort of in a similar situation," Aya replied. She gave Kan'u and Chou'un a slightly suspicious glance, which they returned. "There's a dragon here, too, but...its ki is really messed up, Souichirou-sama. It hasn't moved from its spot at all, but if it's left alone..."

Souichirou sighed, sending a rush of static over the line. _"Yeah, the one I met is pretty dangerous, too. For now, though, I think the one that's more mobile is the bigger problem. After we see what's up with the one here at Nanyou, I think we can worry about the one at Seitou." _He paused for a moment, then spoke again. _"I gotta go. More toilets to clean. See you at home tonight. Love you." _

Aya giggled and smiled softly. "I love you too, Souichirou-sama. Be careful, OK?"

"_Yeah. Later."_

He hung up the phone shortly afterward, and Aya turned her attention back to her students, her smile fading as the two of them returned her frank stare. "We'll have to discuss this another time. I have to prepare for my next class."

Kan'u's grip on her weapon tightened. "Who was that you just spoke to?"

"He's someone that means a lot to me," Aya said. "More importantly, he was the first person I ever knew to have a dragon that eventually overwhelmed him. It took a lot to bring him back, but we did it eventually." Her expression became slightly less severe as she turned away from Kan'u and Chou'un. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going. Make sure you two do your homework."

Kan'u grimaced and stepped forward as if she wanted to stop Aya, but Chou'un put a hand in front of her, allowing Aya to walk away. When Kan'u rounded on her, about to ask for an explanation, Chou'un held up that same hand to silence her. "Antagonizing Natsume-sensei now isn't going to do any good," Chou'un said. "And I think she went out of her way with that last statement to imply that she could help us if she wanted to. So long as we don't drive her off by being too overzealous, she might be willing to do just that." To punctuate her point, she opened her eyes halfway and fixed Kan'u with a firm stare. "I'm concerned about Gentoku-sama, too. I know that how I feel about her and how you feel about her might be a little...different, but you know that at the end of the day, we both want what's best for her. Let's let her handle her own business for now, and have a proper discussion with her when the time is right."

Kan'u pursed her lips in stubborn silence for several moments, but eventually let out a gust of air through her nostrils and nodded. Privately, though, she lamented that even Chou'un could tell how she truly felt about Ryuubi, as inappropriate as that feeling between a lord and a vassal was. "Very well. But Gentoku...she won't last forever, Chou'un. You know that."

Chou'un closed her eyes again, and nodded. "She doesn't have to. Only just long enough. And she will."

* * *

As it turned out, Koukin didn't have to bring Hakufu to meet Souichirou the next day.

Initially, Koukin hadn't been able to find Hakufu at all. When he'd gone to her room to wake her up that morning, she was gone, leaving a note saying something about going on a trip to mend her wounded heart. At school, no one attacked him, but Hakufu remained absent the whole day. It wasn't until he left a class on the second floor at the end of the day that he noticed a giant crowd of students at the end of the hall.

He made his way over there as quickly as he could, and saw none other than Souichirou standing over Hakufu. Her blouse was torn open, but her modesty was preserved by the jacket she wore over her shoulders. Some of the craters around her were halfway filled with poorly-sanded builder's mix, and Souichirou's expression was flatter than a pancake as he looked at the half-finished job, then at Koukin.

"Your cousin's an idiot," Souichirou said. "I found her trying to patch up this place with some half-ass mix that she got from nowhere. On top of that she somehow passed out when the job was halfway done. Where the hell was she?"

"I don't know," Koukin replied. "Anyway, would today be a good day to talk?"

Souichirou scratched his head and nudged Hakufu with his foot a few times, then shrugged and shook his head. "An idiot _and_ she sleeps like the dead—you've got wonderful family, kid." He looked at Koukin. "Yeah, today's fine. Just give me your address and I'll be there by seven or so. Have dinner ready for two extra people, got it? That's including me."

"Two? Why?"

Souichirou walked off, pushing his way through the crowd easily despite the fact that he was carrying a mop and a bucket. "Just do it, kid. If you want my help, handle it. Otherwise, find somebody else."

Koukin groaned and pressed his face into his hands. "What is with that guy?"

* * *

True to his word, though, Souichirou showed up at the Shuuyu household at seven o'clock on the dot. He was dressed in a long black jacket and matching black pants of the type worn by old high-school students, with a white T-shirt underneath. Aya stood beside him, wearing a flower-patterned kimono and wooden sandals. Despite the clear smile on her face, something in her expression didn't seem quite right for a smile.

"Souichirou-sama, honestly. You're such a moron. Why would you ask for something so ridiculous from a client? Dinner? Really?"

"I'm sick of having to eat cheap shitty fish, Aya," Souichirou muttered. "We don't make enough cash for good food and this seemed like a good opportunity. You really gonna look a gift horse in the mouth?"

Aya kept smiling, but punched Souichirou in the back of the head hard enough to knock him to the ground face-first. "I will if you're going to be so rude, Souichirou-sama! You're twenty-five now! Why are you still acting like a common punk and extorting people?"

"I was trying to help, damn it," Souichirou muttered around a mouthful of dirt. "Eating cheap food all the time is gonna make us sick and thin, you know."

Aya stepped on the back of his head and twisted her foot a few times, but by now a shadow had fallen over her smiling face. "I'd rather be thin than an extortionist, Souichirou-sama. I won't be able to face big brother and big sister with such a sin on my conscience when I die!"

It was at that point that the front door slid open, and Koukin came out of the house, accompanied by a middle-aged woman in a purple kimono with short brown hair. The woman peered over her glasses and chuckled at the sight of Aya continuing to grind Souichirou's face into the ground, while Koukin blinked in confusion.

"My, my, Koukin. What interesting guests you've invited over!" the woman said.

At the sound of her voice, Aya immediately stood at attention, the picture-perfect woman. Souichirou took the opportunity to pry his face out of the ground, spitting out the dirt that had accumulated there. "Damn it, Aya! The hell are you doing?! Making me look bad in front of a paying customer..."

"There's no contract yet, Souichirou-sama," Aya said, bowing to Koukin and the woman accompanying him. "Pardon our terrible rudeness. I'm Aya Natsume, current head of the Natsume family. This young punk that I came along with is Souichirou Nagi, current head of the Nagi family. If we can come to a proper agreement, the two of us would like to assist Hakufu-san with matters pertaining to her inner power, as Souichirou-san discussed with that young man over there earlier."

"I'm Goei," said the woman, returning the bow, "and this young man is my nephew Koukin Shuuyu. We're delighted to invite you into our home."

"We're delighted that you'd have us," Aya replied. Souichirou nodded and grimaced as he spat out another clump of soil. "But if it's all right, I'd rather eat before we worry about talking business."

Goei's smile widened. "Of course. Come on in."

Without much discussion, Souichirou and Aya followed Goei and Koukin inside, passing by the garden in the courtyard as they did. When they entered the dining room, Hakufu, dressed in a pink shirt and blue jeans, no longer bandaged up, was sitting at the table...

...and had already started eating.

Everyone stood in the doorway for a few moments without moving, and a quiet wind blew behind them, through the garden at their backs, echoing through the hall.

"Goei-san, your daughter is terribly ill-mannered," Aya said, suddenly smiling far too broadly for Souichirou's liking. "I'm most certain that she didn't learn such behavior from you, though."

"That would be correct, Natsume-san," Goei replied. "Pardon me for a moment."

Goei stepped forward, brandishing a wooden carpet beater. In the space of two steps, she crossed the room and smacked Hakufu in the face, hard enough that Hakufu went spiraling away and hit the floor in another corner of the room. With deliberation that contrasted the speed that she'd just used, Goei walked over to where Hakufu lay on her back.

"My idiot daughter," Goei said, enunciating every syllable, "Did I not expressly tell you _we were having guests today and to be on your best behavior?_"

"Yes, Mama," Hakufu replied, mumbling around swollen lips. "But you all were taking a while and I was hungry."

Goei continued to hover over Hakufu like Death incarnate, and kept swatting her with the carpet beater. "But I raised you better than that, _my idiot daughter. _Is it really so hard for you to mind your manners? Let alone when these two came to graciously help you acclimate to life at Nanyou Academy!"

Hakufu's cheeks continued to swell as the blows rained down endlessly. "I'm sorry, Mama. I won't do it again. I promise."

After a while, Goei spun the carpet beater around, stashing it in her sleeve, and sat at the head of the table with grace and poise, as if she hadn't been mercilessly disciplining her daughter moments before. "Then, everyone, come and eat, please. Hakufu, you'll be eating last since you happened to have such a nice sample of what we set out for our guests."

"Yes, Mama," the Hakufu-shaped lump in the corner replied. "I understand."

"After we're done eating," Goei said, "we'll talk about the business you have with my idiot daughter, as well as the terms you said you wanted to set for your assistance."

"Works for me," Souichirou said, settling himself down on the left side of the table. Aya sat next to him, and Koukin sat on the opposite side of the table from Souichirou. "Let's dig in, yeah? I'm starvin'."

* * *

After everyone finished eating, Hakufu joined the table and slowly ate what little her mother allowed her. Once she finished eating what she could, she tried to focus as best she could on the conversation in question (which was sort of hard through the massive amounts of pain coursing through her body).

"So you say you saw Hakufu's 'dragon,' Nagi-san?" Goei asked. She rubbed her temple with one hand and shook her head. "And you subdued it yourself? I find that a little hard to believe."

"You can believe it or not," Souichirou said. "You wanna wait till Hakufu cracks your skulls open and drinks your brains out of 'em, be my guest. Otherwise, it'd be in your best interests to listen to what I'm telling you all. It'll eat her alive otherwise."

Goei didn't say anything, but the sober look on her face told him that she was listening. Hakufu was paying close attention as well, despite the fact that the conversation was veering into a topic she didn't remember.

"A long time ago, I had to fight against a dragon of my own," Souichirou said. "I was able to keep it under control for a while, but I lost to it eventually. Someone saved me, but it cost her a lot. I ain't going to let that happen again." He shook his head. "Anyway, the method I'll teach Hakufu to control her dragon isn't super secret or anything, but it requires willpower and discipline, and will take time. My contract rate will be 25,000 yen a week for an eight-week contract, but if you want to stretch it out I'll lower the rate slightly. I won't renegotiate at a lower price if you want to renew the contract after it's done."

"25,000 yen?" Hakufu shouted. "What kind of business are you running? That's way too much money for some weird thing you haven't even explained! All this talk about dragons and stuff...I don't get it at all!"

Souichirou and Aya glanced at Hakufu, then at Goei and Koukin. It was Koukin that replied to the unspoken question. "She remembers losing to Ryomou-senpai, but nothing after that."

"Then I'll put it this way, kid," Souichirou said, turning to Hakufu. "I'm going to teach you how to fight so that you don't get your ass kicked like that again. Take it or leave it."

Hakufu stood up and folded her arms. "But what makes you think you're as strong as a Fighter anyway? Mou-chan could kick your butt, I bet! Heck, I bet _I _could! You're just a regular guy!"

Koukin paled. Goei sighed. Aya hid a laugh behind her mouth.

And Souichirou stood up with a nasty smile, then looked at Goei. "Mind if I borrow your yard?"

* * *

The moment his fist crashed into her jaw and sent her corkscrewing through the air, Hakufu finally and fully understood how gravely she'd underestimated Souichirou Nagi..

He looked like a young punk and dressed like one, sure, but he was easily as good as, if not better than, Ryomou. He moved like he was just a common street fighter, never using a stance, but his punches hurt and his movement was fast and precise, never wasting a step and never going off balance.

Hakufu managed to catch herself right as she hit the ground, while Souichirou kept walking toward her. His coat billowed out in the wind, and even in the dim moonlight, the odd and mysterious pattern on the inner lining of his coat was visible, depicting a dragon swirling amongst a blend of curves and lines of varying colors. His left hand was still in his pocket, and his right was clenched into a tight fist.

Slowly, Souichirou laughed, shaking his head. "What's wrong? Thought you said I was weaker than that girl, Ryomou. Weaker than you, even! Then why can't you beat me?"

Hakufu grunted and stood up, shaking her head, and charged at him. Souichirou swung out at her with a punch, and though Hakufu managed to dodge it, something about it felt off. Her normal instincts were dulled somehow, and the clarity of thought and movement that she'd had when facing down Ryomou was simply not there, no matter how she watched him.

She didn't understand why, and it frightened her.

With a shout, Hakufu charged in again, this time starting with a high kick. Souichirou blocked it with his left forearm, them punched her in the gut with his other hand. She staggered back, and he ducked forward, rising with an uppercut that sent her flying.

Hakufu landed with a pained grunt, flat on her ass. She moaned and rubbed her jaw where she'd been struck, while Souichirou shook out his hands and shoved them back in his pockets.

"Why couldn't I hit you?" Hakufu said, staring up at Souichirou with both anger and confusion. "Why couldn't I follow you?"

"All you Fighter kids seem to use little bits of ki in your attacks, even the normal ones," Souichirou said. "If you can sense it, even instinctively, you can figure out how to predict and avoid attacks. Take that away, and your advantage is lost."

Hakufu stood up and broke into a full pout, folding her arms and puffing out her cheeks. "But I've beaten up regular people before, just fine! What's so different about you?"

Souichirou turned back to the house and sighed. "I may look like a punk, but I know how to fight like a martial artist. Those scruffy morons you go around playing with? They don't. For you specifically, someone like me—fighting with no ki, with the training that pretty much none of you punks have—is your worst enemy." He looked over his shoulder and grinned at Hakufu. "25,000 yen for training to fix that? So that you can go fight that cyclops girl and beat her ass like a drum while she just states at you like a dead fish? Sounds like a deal to me. You gonna take it or leave it?"

Though she hated to admit it to anyone, least of all herself, Hakufu knew she was a moron. However, even as a moron, she knew what she was being offered. She knew the sting of defeat.

She knew that she had to get stronger.

"I'll take it," Hakufu said, narrowing her eyes. "If it'll make me stronger, then...I'll do whatever I have to do."

Souichirou's grin grew deadly wide, showing his teeth like fangs. "If you bitch, I'll kick your ass. If you moan, I'll kick your ass. Do both, and you'll be lucky if there's enough of you to fit in half a doggie bag when I chuck it at your mother's feet. If you think you've got it in you to suck it up and get through it, you will do what I tell you and you will not question a single goddamn word. Get it?"

Hakufu gulped, but nodded. "Got it."

Impossibly, Souichirou's grin grew wider, and at that moment Hakufu understood that she had just agreed to see hell. "Good."

* * *

_**Fighters, Heaven, and Earth**_

**_A Tenjou Tenge/Ikki Tousen Crossover Fanfiction_**

**_Written by Zero-Sennin_**

* * *

_My belated Christmas present to my readers: the last new story I'll create in the year 2013. It's a crossover idea that's bugged me for a while so I decided to get it out of my head and into reality._

_This obviously takes place after Tenjou Tenge's ending, probably a good nine or ten years. The Ikki Tousen part of the crossover is based mostly on the manga, and it's likely that Hakufu would get the stupid beaten out of her throughout the story on account of the fact that idiot heroes over a certain age give me the hives. Or it might just be the severity of her stupidity and how unnecessary it was to give it to her, one of those two things. _

_I did consider making Souichirou high school age, but the idea of writing a relationship where the two characters know each other well and act as a counterbalance to each other was appealing. It was also pretty cool to try and envision a Souichirou that's somewhere between his old asshole punk self and someone that's actually learned something from Maya's lessons._

_Anyway, it's all I got for you all now. I think I could use a little sleep. Enjoy it while I handle both the next chapter of Azure...and maybe the next one-shot._

_Till next time._

_~ZS_


End file.
